It is known to assemble headliners to motor vehicles as a multi-step operation at various stations of a motor vehicle assembly line. Numerous operators and numerous stations are required to assemble the various components of the headliner as the vehicle moves along the assembly line.
The herein described invention concerns a modular headliner assembled off the assembly line and thereafter brought to the assembly line and which may be inserted into the vehicle and assembled thereto at a single station by a pair of operators. In order to provide such a modular headliner it is necessary to mount the appropriate consoles including lighting fixtures, hidden vanity mirrors, storage compartments, displays, sunglass holding compartments, garage door opening compartments, reading lamps, overhead lamps and the like to the substrate such that the consoles or modules are secured in position as part of the modular headliner prior to the assembly of the modular headliner to the vehicle.
As described herein the headliner substrate has a decorative surface observable to the occupant of the vehicle and non-show surface facing the vehicle roof. The substrate has a depressed portion extending downwardly from the adjacent substrate and defining an opening therein. A retainer is sized to extend through the substrate opening and to engage the substrate about the perimeter of the opening to sandwich the substrate therebetween to secure the retainer to the substrate. A console is thereafter mounted to the retainer and engaged therein such that the desired features of the console are available to the occupants of the vehicle after assembly of the modular headliner to the vehicle. The console is engaged to the retainer with a latching arrangement and includes a trim bezel extending outwardly beyond the substrate opening and retainer to hide the opening and the retainer from view of a vehicle occupant.
During shipping and handling of the modular headliners the consoles must be secured so as not to fall off or distort the design position or final configuration of the headliner prior to assembly to the vehicle. If the headliner configuration is distorted it will either not be capable of being assembled to the vehicle or it will provide an improper appearance when assembled.
As described herein the apparatus includes retention means such that the consoles are affixed to the headliner with the retainer ring which engages the non-show surface of the headliner and engages to the console when it is inserted through the show or decorative surface of the headliner. This combination produces a compression fit about the headliner and gives an attractive appearance at the console trim bezel to headliner interface, as well as performing the function of console retention to the headliner.
As described herein it will appear that the retainer may actually engage both sides of the substrate or may engage only one side of the substrate. Also the console may be engaged to the retainer or the retainer may be engaged to the console.
In addition to the retainer serving to engage the console to the substrate, the retainer also includes extensions which engage the non-show side of the headliner to provide a wide surface area in engagement with the substrate and over which the weight of the lamp or the console is distributed. By utilizing this wide surface area the possibility of the weight of the lamp causing permanent distortion to the headliner during severe shock impact, such as may be imposed upon the headliner during shipping or from assembly is reduced.
The retainer ring may also incorporate a snap-fit feature to engage the headliner for temporary adhesion to the headliner prior to sub-assembly of the console to the retainer ring. The retainer ring also may have a snap-fit feature engaging the console which provides for the one step assembly of the console to the headliner thus saving time during the assembly of the console. Additionally the retainer may further include a mesh type fastening means such as Dual-Lock.RTM.. A mating portion of Dual Lock.RTM. may be mounted to the vehicle body structure to which the headliner is assembled such that the two pieces of Dual Lock mesh providing support directly from the body structure of the vehicle to the retainer. Dual Lock is utilized because Dual Lock allows the two mesh fasteners to be slid, one relative to the other, without engaging or fastening the two pieces of Dual Lock to each other. The Dual Lock pieces are only fastened together when one is inserted into the other, and under that condition provides bonding to secure the two members to each other.
As disclosed herein a trim bezel will be indicated to extend beyond the substrate opening and beyond the retainer to hide both from the view of the occupant of the vehicle. This trim bezel may in fact be but a single piece extending across the entire bottom of the console.
Additionally disclosed is that a retainer may be mounted with an electrical connector as a portion thereof and the console may include a mating connector as a portion thereof such that mere assembly of the console to the retainer effects an electrical connection therebetween. Naturally the console connector will be electrically connected to the electrical components of the console and the retainer connector will be connected to the wire harness of the modular headliner which is connected to the body electrical system. Another method of achieving the same connection would be to have a connector forming an end portion of the modular headliner wire harness and the retainer including a fastening area for securing the connector at the end of the wire harness to a specific position wherein it may mate with the mating connector from the console when the console is assembled to the retainer.
As described herein the substrate is generally configured to include a depressed area to which the retainer and console are mounted. This depressed portion extends downwardly from the general plane of the substrate and is often located in the center of the headliner to form a console area. The depression of the substrate downwardly provides space between the plane of the substrate and the area which is depressed downwardly to secure retainer and console therein.
Prior art consoles have included add-on downwardly extending projections which were mounted to the existing headliner substrate to form a downwardly extending area to which consoles are mounted. These separate add-on pieces have not been formed as an integral part of the headliner and must be separately attached thereto.